Dumbed down on way to Bethlehem

I submit that the pedestrian has replaced the sonorous, I’d call it rhythmic. The 1962 Bible (Douay-Rheims) called for a reader-aloud with some oratorical training, which has its pitfalls, yes. But this reading the daily newspaper at us (so it comes across) has nothing to stir souls.

Has the Scripture prescribed for reading at mass been dumbed down since Vatican 2? Here’s the gospel for today, Saturday of the First Week of Advent:

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.

At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.

Then he summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.

Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,
Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

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About Jim BowmanJim Bowman covered religion 1968-78 for the Chicago Daily News, since then has written books, articles, etc., mostly on corporate history but also on religion (Company Man: My Jesuit Life, 1950-1968), and more recently on politics (Illinois Blues: How the Ruling Party Talks to Voters, -- Lulu.com, Kindle). Longtime Oak Park, Illinois, resident, he lives now on Chicago's North Side, where four of his and Winnie's six children live close by.